Saturday, April 30, 2011

Jeannette for Mountbatten

I have a soft spot for lawyers in politics, especially those that muster the courage to put themselves up in single-member constituencies against the dominant party.

I think, as the history of many democracies shows, many of them go on to be strong politicians on both sides of the political spectrum.

They also go into Parliament, with a sound understanding of how the legislative process works. They ask the right questions, and they will do a much better job keeping the Executive on their toes.

I get really annoyed when I see candidates from the dominant party sleeping in Parliament! I find it shameful to know that there exist some laws in this country that may have been passed, while these persons were sleeping on the job.

I only wish that someone would identify the candidates, who have slept in Parliament the last 5 years, and put up a list of them.

Moving on, lawyers that have been involved in building up law practices tend to do a decent job in building up the constituencies they manage and keeping their constituents happy. For example, my own PAP MP relies a lot on his lawyer wife to know first-hand what is going on in our constituency and, in part due to her efforts, he has done a wonderful job.

I first heard of Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss a couple of months ago. I do not know her personally but the fact that many of her supporters went around wearing T-shirts, which read “Jeannette for Mountbatten”, made me stand up and take note.

Over the weeks, I have taken time to find out a little more about Jeannette. I think my assessment of her is best summed up by what a senior member of the Singapore Bar told me. He shared, “Jeannette speaks at least 3 national languages. You cannot get more Singaporean than her. She is always pleasant and presentable. She makes an impression.”

Reading her website, I also sense she truly cares about the people of Mountbatten. I am also aware that she is spending a lot of time to know the ground, if she doesnt already. The dominant party and their supporters there are also not giving her an easy time. Nevertheless, she perserveres and she is putting a lot at stake for the people of Mountbatten.

I guess it was these positive traits that prompted a business hawk like K Chettiar to give way and endorse her candidacy. I know him. If he feels strongly about certain things, he will do what he can to enforce his rights. He successfully sued a key Government ministry on one such matter. K Chettiar would not have endorsed Jeannette fleetingly.

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Nothing in this blog is meant to substitute professional legal, financial or other advice. Please seek such advice independently! Dharmendra Yadav is presently a corporate counsel in a financial institution. Contact him by e-mail dpyadav {[at]} yahoo.com